Speed reducing and shock absorbing mechanism for full-fashioned knitting machines



Oct. 3, 1939. F. c. GOOD 2,174,977

SPEED REDUCING AND SHOCK ABSORBING MECHANISM FOR FULL-FASHIONED KNITTINGMACHINES Filed Sept. 2, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q WW INVENTOR. I

Oct. 3, 1939. F D 2,174,977

SPEED REDUCING AND SHOCK ABSORBING MECHANISM FOR FULL-FASHIONED KNITTINGMACHINES Filed Sept. 2, 1938 5.,Sheets-Sheet 2 A i @i 4 F-4@H I U71 =L il f l I i J l\ L// [I INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Oct. 3, 1939. v F. c. GOOD 2,174,977

SPEED REDUCING AND SHOCK ABSORBING MECHANISM FOR FULL-FASHIONED KNITTINGMACHINES Filed Sept. 2, 1938v 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 w m M W Wm j e Z Oct. 3,1939. F. c. GOOD 2,174,977

SPEED REDUCING AND SHOCK ABSORBING MECHANISM FOR FULL-FASHIONED KNITTINGMACHINES Filed Sept. 2, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. fled G 6000ATTORNEY.

Oct. 3, 1939. F c. GOOD 2,174,977

SPEED REDUCING AND SHOCK ABSORBING MECHANISH FOR FULL-FASHIQVED KNITTINGMACHINES Filed Sept. 2, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENT OR.

BY WWW- ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 3, 1939 PATENT OFFICE SPEED REDUCING AND SHOCK ABSORBINGMECHANISM FOR FULL-FASHIONED KNIT- TING MACHINES Frederick G. Good,Philadelphia, Pa.

Application September 2, 1938, Serial No. 228,100

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to full-fashioned knitting machines andmore particularly to a speed reducing and shock absorbing mechanism forthe carrier rods thereof.

As well known in the art of full-fashioned knitting, the carrier bars ofthe knitting machine are traversed over the knitting sections by meansof friction boxes arranged on a friction rod reciprocated longitudinallyat the normal rate of speed of the machine through a mechanism calledthe Coulier motion. In order to acquire the proper fashioning of thefabric, it is necessary to limit the yarn laying movement of the carrierbars to a certain distance and, for that purpose, there are providedso-called end stops disposed in the path of travel of said carrier barsto arrest the same. Because the normal speed rate of present-dayfull-fashioned knitting machines is relatively high, the carrier barsare brought forcibly into contact with their end stops, resulting invibration, jarring, and rebound, causing the production of an imperfectknitted fabric.

Several attempts have heretofore been made to provide suitableattachments acting as shock absorbers for the intended purpose ofovercoming the objectionable features stated, but such knownattachments, because of their complicated rigid and dangerousnature,have proven to be of very little practical success.

The present invention, therefore, primarily aims to provide a simple,yet effective and practical mechanism capable of reducing the travellingspeed of the carrier bars as the same approach their end stops, and ofabsorbing so much of the shock created by the impact of the carrier barswith the end stopsas to render vibration,

jarring," and rebound practically negligible.

Moreover, the invention contemplates the provision of a speed reducingand shock absorbing mechanism for the carrier'bars of a full-fashionedknitting machine which requires no intricate safety devices and yet isso flexible in its operation that the same may be used safely andwithout danger of jamming'the operative parts of the machine should therelative normal position of the associated elements of the mechanismbecome accidentally, or otherwise; displaced.

It is also an important feature of the invention to provide a mechanismof the type mentioned, including means functioning to automaticallyrestore said mechanism to its normal operative relationship wheneversuch relationship is lost in the course of the operation of the'knittingmachine.

Other important objects and advantages of the invention will be in partobvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In order that the invention and its mode of operation may be readilyunderstood by those skilled in the art, I have, in the accompanyingdrawings and in the detailed description based thereupon, set out apossible embodiment of the invention.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a portion of a full-fashioned knittingmachine embodying the invention and illustrating the associated parts inone of their operative poistions.

Figure 2 is an enlarged section taken on line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail of certain parts represented in Figure 1.

Figure 4. isan enlarged section taken on line 44 of Figure 3, withcertain portions taken away for the sake of clarity.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail in plan elevation of a portion of theknitting machine as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a section taken on line 'l'l of Figure 5.

Figures 8, 9, and 10 are detailed illustrations of parts of the knittingmachine showing the relative positions of said parts at different stagesduring the reciprocating stroke of the friction rod from the center tothe right.

With more particular reference to the drawings, wherein like charactersof reference will designate corresponding parts throughout, it is to beunderstood that I have shown only those parts of a full-fashionedknitting machine whichare essential to the proper comprehension of thepresent invention, the knitting machine itself being of the usualstandard construction well known'in the art.

' In these drawings, I have shown portions of the usual machine frameI!) provided'with the front beam l2, the back beam l4, and the centerbed l6. Arranged about the center bed l6 are the knitting sections, oneof which is repre sented in Figure 2 and designated in its entirety forconvenience herein by the reference character l8.

The yarn or yarns are fed to the knitting sections [8 by means ofcarriers 20 depending from the carrier bars 22 mounted for slidingmovement in the carrier bar bracket 24. Each carrier bar receives itsmovement through actuation of a friction box 26 interconnected with saidbar to a pitman 36 through rollers 38. This back and forth movement istransmitted to a long rocker arm 4!] pivotally supported in a bracket 42on the rear beam l4 and connected to a reciprocable cross head 44 bymeans of a link 46, said cross head being rigidly secured to the mainfriction rod 28. that the reciprocating motion thus transmitted to thecross head 44 by means of the rocker arm 40 results in a correspondingmovement of the friction rod 28 and its friction box 26.

Supported for reciprocation upon the friction guide shaft 3| by means ofbearings 48 is a speed reducing or shock absorbing shaft 50. The shaft50 is reciprocated by means of a connection, indicated in its entiretyherein by the reference character 52, said connection coupling the shaft50 to the long rocker arm 40 of the Coulier motion 32.

As shown in the drawings, the connection 52 consists of a triangularshaped casting 54 having a split tubular side 56 provided with a rigidextension 58 affixed to the speed reducing or shock absorbing shaft 50and slidably engaging the back narrowing shaft 60 usually provided uponthe ordinary full-fashioned knitting machine, the remaining two sides ofthe triangular shaped casting terminating with a forked extension 62pivotally engaging a special friction box 54 in frictional engagementwith a bar 66 pivoted to the intermediate portion of the long rocket arm40, as indicated at 58. Because of the connection 52, it will beunderstood that the speed reducing or shock absorbing shaft 55! iscaused to travel in the same direction as the main friction rod 28 butat approximately one-half the speed of the latter.

Adjustably secured upon the speed reducing or shock absorbing shaft 5!!are relatively spaced stop members Ill disposed in the path of travel ofa finger 12 fixed onto the carrier rod controlling friction box 26 forreciprocating motion therewith. In this manner, and since the speedreducing or shock absorbing shaft 50 travels at approximately one-halfthe speed of the friction rod 28, the finger 12 of the carrier engagingfriction box 26 during reciprocation thereof will overtake and come incontact with the stop members 10, as more clearly illustrated in Figures8, 9, and 10 and thus retard the movement of the carrier bar 22 as itapproaches the end of its traversing stroke and, accordingly, preventexcessive detrimental rebound and vibration of said carrier bar uponabutting its end stop M provided in the well known manner on thefullfashioned knitting machine.

It will be appreciated that, at times, the speed reducing or shockabsorbing shaft 50, the casting 54, and its friction box 54 may becomedisplaced out of their normal relationship with respect to the frictionrod 28 and bar 56. Therefore, in order to reposition said partsautomatically, there may be provided a set of relatively spaced stops l6adjustably positioned on said shaft 50 to extend for contact withconvenient machine frame parts, such as brackets 3!], thereby holdingthe shaft and associated elements against reciprocation while saidfriction rod 28 and bar 66 continue in their motion, thus reestablishingthe proper relationship.

For that same purpose, there may likewise be provided a second set ofrelatively spaced stops 18 suitably mounted upon a convenient part ofthe machine frame, as indicated at 86, to lie in the path of travel ofthe special friction box 64 so that whenever the same and its associatedelement-s 'move out of proper position, the special It will therefore beunderstood friction box will contact one or the other of said stops 18,depending upon the direction of movement and, accordingly, be held inplace during further movement of the bar 66 to reset the mechanism.

- In practice, either one of the sets of stops 16 or H3 may be dispensedwith, or both sets may be used in conjunction with one another,depending upon the amount of friction or load to be overcome.

Of course, it is to be understood that, whereas I have shown anddescribed herein the preferred embodiment of the invention, the same issubject to several constructional modifications and, therefore, anymodifications coming within the scope of the subjoined claims are to beconsidered within the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with the main friction and Coulier rocker arm of afull-fashioned knitting machine, a special friction comprising a specialfriction bar attached to said rocker arm at a point for operating at areduced speed with respect to said main friction and a special frictionbox carried by said special friction bar for movement therewith, and amechanism connected to said special friction box for movement therewithand having means engageable with the main friction to check the speed ofthe latter.

2. In combination with the main friction and Coulier rocker arm of afull-fashioned knitting machine, a special friction comprising a specialfriction bar attached to said rocker arm at a point for operating at areduced speed with respect to said main friction and a special frictionbox carried by said special friction bar for movement therewith, amechanism connected to said special friction box for movement therewithand having means engageable with the main friction to check the speed ofthe latter, and means associated with said special friction forautomatically resetting the same upon displacement thereof from itsrelationship to the main friction.

3. In combination with the main friction and Coulier rocker arm of afull-fashioned knitting machine, a special friction comprising a specialfriction bar attached to said rocker arm at a point for operating at areduced speed with respect to said main friction and a special frictionbox carried by said special friction bar for movement therewith, a shaftmounted on the machine for movement paralleling that of the mainfriction, a connection between said shaft and the special friction boxfor unison movement, and means carried by said shaft and engageable withthe main friction to check the speed of the latter.

4. In combination with the main friction and Coulier rocker arm of afull-fashioned knitting machine, a special friction comprising a specialfriction bar attached to said rocker arm at a point for operating at areduced speed with respect to said main friction and a special frictionbox carried by said special friction bar for movement therewith, a shaftmounted on the machine for movement paralleling that of the mainfriction, a connection between said shaft and the special friction boxfor unison movement, means carried by said shaft and engageable with themain friction to check the speed of the latter, and means associatedwith said special friction for automatically resetting the same upondisplacement thereof from its relationship to the main friction.

5. In combination with the main friction and Coulier rocker arm of afull-fashioned knitting machine, a special friction comprising a specialfriction bar attached to said rocker arm at a point for operating at areduced speed with respect to said main friction and a special frictionbox carried by said special friction bar for movement therewith, a shaftmounted on the machine for movement paralleling that of the mainfriction, a connection between said shaft and the special friction boxfor unison movement, means carried by said shaft and engageable with themain friction to check the speed of the latter, and means carried bysaid shaft and disposed for contact with stationary parts of theknitting machine for resetting said shaft, connection, and specialfriction box upon displacement thereof in relation to the main friction.

6. In combination with the main friction and Coulier rocker arm of afull-fashioned knitting machine, a special friction comprising a specialfriction bar attached to said rocker arm at a point for operating at areduced speed with respect to the main friction, and a special frictionbox carried by said special friction bar for movement therewith, a shaftmounted on the machine for movement paralleling that of the mainfriction, a connection between said shaft and the special friction boxfor unison movement, means carried by said shaft and engageable with themain friction to check the speed of the latter, and relatively spacedadjustable stops carried by said shaft and disposed for contact withstationary parts of the knitting machine for resetting said shaft,connection, and special friction box upon displacement thereof inrelation to the main friction.

7. In combination with the main friction box, main friction rod andCoulier rocker arm of a full-fashioned knitting machine, a specialfriction comprising a special friction bar attached to said rocker armat a point for operating at a reduced speed with respect to said mainfriction box and rod, and a special friction box carried by said specialfriction bar for movement therewith, a mechanism connected to saidspecial friction box for movement therewith and having means engageablewith the main friction box to check the speed of the latter, andrelatively spaced stops disposed for engagement with said specialfriction box for resetting the same together with said mechanism upondisplacement thereof from their normal relationship to the main frictionbox.

8. In combination with the main friction and Coulier rocker arm of afull-fashioned knitting machine, a special friction comprising a specialfriction bar attached to said rocker arm at a point for operating at areduced speed with respect to the main friction and a special frictionbox carried by said special friction bar for movement therewith, a shaftmounted on the machine for movement paralleling that of the mainfriction, a connection between said shaft and the special friction boxfor unison movement, means carried by said shaft and engageable with themain friction to check the speed of the latter, a set of stops carriedby said shaft and disposed for contact with parts of the knittingmachine for resetting said shaft, connection, and special friction boxupon displacement thereof in relation to the main friction, and a set ofstops disposed for engagement with said special friction box forcooperation with the first mentioned stops in their resetting function.

9. In a knitting machine of the character described having areciprocable carrier bar, the

combination with a Coulier rocker arm, a main friction rod connected tosaid arm, and a main friction box mounted on said main friction rod andengaged with said carrier bar for normally reciprocating the latter at afull rate of speed, of: a shock absorbing mechanism comprising a speedreducing and shock absorbing shaft mounted on the machine forreciprocation in paralleling relationship to the main friction rod; aspecial friction box; means establishing a connection between said shaftand special friction box; a special friction bar carried by said specialfriction box and i, tached to the Coulier rocker arm at a point toreciprocate said shaft through the special friction box and connectionmeans at a reduced rate of speed with respect to the main friction rodand main friction box; and means mounted on said shaft and engageablewith the main friction box for checking the reciprocating speed thereofand accordingly reducing the travelling speed of the carrier bar.

10. In a knitting machine of the character described having areciprocable carrier bar, the combination with a Coulier rocker arm, amain friction rod connected to said arm, and a main friction box mountedon said main friction rod and engaged with said carrier bar for normallyreciprocating the latter at a full rate of speed, of: a shock absorbingmechanism comprising a speed reducing and shock absorbing shaft mountedon the machine for reciprocation in paralleling relationship to the mainfriction rod; a special friction box; means establishing a connectionbetween said shaft and special friction box; a special friction barcarrying said special friction box and attached to the Coulier rockerarm at a point to reciprocate said shaft through the special frictionbox and connection means at a reduced rate of speed with respect to themain friction rod and main friction box; means mounted on said shaft andengageable with the main friction box for checking the reciprocatingspeed thereof and accordingly reducing the travelling speed of thecarrier bar; and means arranged to act on said mechanism toautomatically reset the same upon displacement thereof from its normalrelationship to the main friction box.

11. In a knitting machine of the character described having areciprocable carrier bar, the combination with a Coulier rocker arm, amain friction rod connected to said arm, and a main friction box mountedon said main friction rod and engaged with said carrier bar for normallyreciprocating the latter at a full rate of speed, of: a shock absorbingmechanism comprising a speed reducing and shock absorbing shaft mountedon the machine for reciprocation in paralleling relationship to the mainfriction rod; a special friction box; means establishing a connectionbetween said shaft and special friction box; a special friction barcarried by said special friction box and attached to the Coulier rockerarm at a point to reciprocate said shaft through the special frictionbox and connection means at a reduced rate of speed with respect to themain friction rod and main friction box; means mounted on said shaft andengageable with the main friction box for checking the reciprocatingspeed thereof and accordingly reducing the travelling speed of thecarrier bar; and stops disposed to intercept said mechanism in itsreciprocation to automatically reset the same upon displacement thereoffrom its normal relationship to the main friction box.

FREDERICK C. GOOD.

